This is derived from language in the federal Higher Education Act, which ties first-generation status to the educational attainment of the parent the student "regularly resides with and receives support from". Ms. Fierceton earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the College of Arts . Period." [2], Classmates who told Fierceton this also noted the similarities to another medical emergency in September 2018, when a 38-year-old SP2 graduate named Cameron Driver had suffered a cardiac event during a class in Caster's basement. Mackenzie Fierceton, 24, claimed she was from a poor background and grew up in foster care when she actually attended private school By Phoebe Southworth 13 January 2022 8:00pm Mackenzie. "[2], Near the end of November Fierceton was named one of 32 Rhodes scholars from the U.S. for the year. She got straight A's, served in student government, managed the field hockey team, played varsity soccer, and volunteered to assist with the local Special Olympics. In addition to reiterating many of the themes of comments made by her and her supporters in the previous articles, including criticism of the Rhodes and Penn investigations (the former of which Grim noted she was putting air quotes around when she mentioned it), she expressed a belief that her story had triggered a defensive anxiety in women like Finkelstein and White:[4]. One trigger for the beatings was sexual abuse by one of her mother's boyfriends, Henry Lovelace, Jr., a fitness trainer and multiple winner of the Missouri's Strongest Man competition in his weight class, which her mother warned her never to talk about. [2], Brandt interviewed Morrison, who described herself and her daughter as "two peas in a pod". "Without her trauma, she didnt matter", wrote a commentator in the Tulane Hullabaloo. She felt as if it might have been an attempt to intimidate her. She had wanted to appeal the Rhodes committee's findings, but Rafaelle advised her that Penn had hinted to him that it might consider referring the matter to federal prosecutors on the grounds that she had lied about being FGLI on her Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. She lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital, where she spent three days in intensive care. She feared that her mother had inflicted the injuries, perhaps out of jealousy that Lovelace was attracted to her, even as it seemed to Fierceton that Morrison was "offering [her] up to him on a silver platter". Then the University of Pennsylvania accused her of. Her last set of foster parents had had a baby and she felt less a part of their lives. Laura Newey. "How much does one have to suffer to have value? [2] Ruderman's story, published the next day, began:[13]. A week later, Brandt interviewed Morrison again at the police station; this time she said that her daughter had injured herself, saying "I guess she has more problems than I thought." Later, another Whitfield parent Morrison had talked to told this woman that she believed Fierceton had done this to get admitted to an Ivy League college, an idea which she found preposterous. At first she went to a friend's home in Ohio and then returned to the Philadelphia area as May and graduation approached to live with a classmate's family. But when you're filling out a box where it's "yes" or "no" and there's no more information or "kind of!" "She lies better than I can tell the truth. The University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday announced it will stop withholding a master's degree from Mackenzie Fierceton, the former student at the center of a recent New Yorker magazine . She is poor, but she has not been poor for long enough. Nor is she obligated to meet their expectations of her. ", Morrison said. [2][3], Fierceton had initially expected it would be easier for her to transition to college life than it was for other students, since she was not leaving a family behind at home. Last month my social media feeds were flooded with the tale of Mackenzie Fierceton, a University of Pennsylvania graduate who lost her Rhodes scholarship to Oxford after allegations she had misrepresented her background. It's a hard scholarship to win, but Fierceton was granted the coveted prize due to the adversity this brave young woman claimed she overcame. The 23-year-old planned to use the scholarship to go to Oxford to pursue a Ph.D. in social policy. [14], The publicity led 150 Penn students to stage a walkout from classes to demonstrate in support of Fierceton. The problem was that the sad story Mackenzie Fierceton was telling colleges and committees did not match the year of her life spent in foster care. [2], "Family is not the people you are related to by blood," she wrote in the diary. Wine and gastronomy. ", "Inside Mackenzie Fierceton's ongoing legal battle with the University", "Mackenzie Fierceton Sets the Record Straight on Losing a Rhodes Scholarship Over Accusations of 'Dishonesty', "Penn community rallies in support of former Rhodes Scholar Mackenzie Fierceton", "Universities must stop fetishizing trauma", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mackenzie_Fierceton&oldid=1144986758, controversy over representation of childhood and abuse, This page was last edited on 16 March 2023, at 16:53. Asked about Lovelace's alleged sexual abuse, specifically an incident the year before where Fierceton, having fallen asleep in her mother's bed, woke to find him caressing her breasts, Morrison expressed amusement at the possibility that her boyfriend could have mistaken her teenage daughter for her; Lovelace, interviewed separately, denied all the allegations. She considered the advantages and disadvantages of reporting her mother, but ultimately feared she might not even be believed, as her mother would tell people she was mentally ill or lying. She did not remember what had caused it. She will be joining a distinguished group of students. Fierceton, according to Penn's response, had learned during her parents' divorce how to make calls to the child-abuse hotline and that teachers were mandatory reporters. [3], Through her attorney, Morrison gave a statement, her only one so far, on the case: "Mackenzie is deeply loved by her mom and family. "Mackenzie Fierceton was selected as a Rhodes Scholar because she offered an inspiring story -- an ambitious and driven student who succeeded in the face of extraordinary odds, having grown up in the State of Missouri's foster-care system, 'bouncing' from one location to the next, the first in her family to attend college," Penn's legal brief box, it's like you have to fit yourself in, saying: Are you the first in your family to attend? Mackenzie Fierceton. Mackenzie Fierceton, 24, had her Rhodes scholarship rescinded last year after a source told the Trust she was not 'low income' or a 'first generation' student Fierceton, who was born. She received accolades and a massive amount of. "[2], When Fierceton returned to the St. Louis area on vacations and breaks, she stayed with friends. This made Fierceton feel as if she were being watched for anything she did that could be used against the state's case by her mother. She kept a journal, writing that she was in so much pain from her bruised ribs that she could barely breathe. Fierceton had apparently made much of her status as a 'first generation, low income' student, an abuse . Fierceton was living off-campus by then, but she and her roommates decided to leave their apartment. A 24-year-old Rhodes Scholar has left the prestigious program after being accused of lying about growing up poor, reports say. Massachusetts . Penn claims that was meant purely for purposes of the program, to attract as many students as possible who could benefit from participation in it. [2], Teachers noticed that Fierceton often seemed physically uncomfortable in her mother's presence, and a close friend noted that she was often injured. Fierceton finished her Whitfield education on a scholarship while living in foster homes. "She was a foster child, but not for long enough. [f] Fierceton felt no ambivalence about her answer. "[b] She considered running away but had a distant relationship with her father, and nowhere else she believed she could go. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Mackenzie Fierceton claims that Penn officials targeted the grad student for retaliation after she became a key witness in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the university. At her request Penn kept her contact information out of the school's directory on its website. "[2], Fierceton was one of 15 freshmen made Civic Scholars, a program focused on social justice and community service, with an emphasis on confronting the intersections of identity and privilege. Upon receiving a Rhodes Scholarship, questions arose about Fierceton's background and if it was accurately represented. It quotes her as saying "If you find me dead, it was my mom. Fierceton considered dropping out, but "if I truly can't do this, where am I supposed to return to? She recalled showing up at the foster home with her new clothes in a plastic bag, feeling "like a passenger in my own body", she recalled later. She also alleged that Penn had on many occasions failed to follow its own disciplinary policies in its investigation of her.[16]. Image via AP. The recurring sexual abuse by Lovelace had made Fierceton even more anxious over the summer after he gave her mother a gun as a gift (Morrison had called the police after Lovelace showed Fierceton pictures of the gun. Jay Caspian Kang sounded similar themes in two different New York Times newsletters discussing Fierceton's story. NOTICE TO PLEADTO PLAINTIFF MACKENZIE FIERCETON: You are hereby notified to file a written response to the enclosed New Matter within twenty (20) days from the date of service hereof or a judgment may be entered against you. her degree has been withheld and she won't get to go to Oxford, despite her academic achievements and social work . Learn how and when to remove this template message, the state's Department of Social Services, tortious interference with a business relationship, negligent infliction of emotional distress, "Verified Answer and New Matter to Plaintiff's Complaint", "How an Ivy League School Turned Against a Student", "Deconstructed: Mackenzie Fierceton on Her Battle With UPenn", "Ex Alderman Newsletter 168 And Chesterfield 113", "St. Luke's physician charged with felony child abuse", "Abuse charges against former St. Luke's physician are dropped", "Henry Lovelace, owner of Wild Horse Fitness Passes Away", "Former St. Louis woman who spent time in foster care named Rhodes Scholar", "Thousands petition U. to cut ties with Philly PD, reform militarized campus 'police state', "Penn student who aged out of foster care wins prestigious Rhodes Scholarship", "Following public outcry, Penn lifts hold on former Rhodes Scholar Mackenzie Fierceton's master's degree", "University Mourns Loss of Cameron Avant Driver", "Student loses Rhodes scholarship over allegations of lying about her foster care upbringing", "Former St. Louis-area student loses Rhodes scholarship over 'false narratives', "Student Misleads With Story of Poverty and Abuse and Wins Rhodes ScholarshipNow, the Media Is Defending Her", "Did This Rhodes Wannabe Lie About Her Background? "[12] Gutmann, soon to step down from her position to serve as U.S. ambassador to Germany, had made increasing the amount of FGLI students at Penn a priority in her previous 17 years as the university's president. Fierceton is suing Penn for defamation, alleging their investigation was done to discredit her as a witness in a wrongful death suit filed against the university by the widow of a fellow student which Fierceton instigated. In early 2022, her struggle with Penn and the Rhodes Trust gained national attention through stories run in The Chronicle of Higher Education and The New Yorker. Logan filed her wrongful death suit in August 2020, alleging Penn was negligently responsible for her husband's death through failing to make Caster properly accessible and not making SP2 develop an emergency response protocol. There were three instances of attempted contact from her family or foster family. Mackenzie says she had fallen asleep on her mom's bed watching a movie, only to be woken up with Lovelace on top of her. It's a hard scholarship to win, but Fierceton . Others echoed the criticism. [3], By the end of the interview Fierceton was crying. which covers two years of fees at Oxford University in England. The court granted Morrison a protection order against her former husband; Fierceton had no relationship with him from that time onward. "[2], Fierceton answered yes. the evidence was strong enough and serious enough that Mackenzie was put in foster care . After graduating from Whitfield School in 2016, Fierceton earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 2018 from the University of . "They are the people that support you, look out for you, & love you unconditionally. (Photo from Mackenzie Fierceton) Penn student Mackenzie Fierceton was selected as one of 32 American recipients of the 2021 Rhodes Scholarship, becoming Penn's 31st Rhodes scholar since the scholarship's inception in 1902.. Fierceton, a 2020 College graduate, is currently working on her . She bounced from one foster home to the next. [2], Local police were called. And, in this case, almost everyone who was involved in the university administration are upper middle class or very wealthy, highly academically educated white women. A college counselor suggested she apply through QuestBridge, a nonprofit that helps qualified students in need find schools that will give them full financial support. "While it is possible that [she] was the cause of the alleged injuries," she wrote a month afterward, "the court cannot make that finding by a preponderance of the evidence based on the evidence presented." DSS had originally planned to place Fierceton with one of her mother's sisters but put her in foster care after Whitfield's principal warned the agency that Fierceton would not be safe with them. [2], Brandt noted that Morrison never asked about, or expressed concern for, her daughter's well-being. "Was the problem that a child who was placed into foster care and had no contact with her biological mother wasn't actually a first-generation college student? . "I really don't have words,'" she told a mentor at the Penn Women's Center. She was abused, but there is not enough blood." Mackenzie Fierceton: The Problem with Elite Colleges, The Victimhood Industrial Complex, & Privilege . She retained two lawyers to represent her pro bono; they talked to Morrison themselves, who told them she still loved her daughter and wanted her to come home. The situation was further complicated by a lack of cell phone service in the basement, requiring students to team up and verbally relay information from the 9-1-1 operator to a professor performing CPR on Driver and back to a student posted just outside the door. [2], The next morning, when Fierceton awoke, Morrison told her she was taking her car keys and telling the school she was sick. Fierceton excelled at Penn, completing both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in four years and receiving a Rhodes scholarship to continue her studies at the University of Oxford. "We have concluded that there is a basis for serious concern and that further investigation by the Rhodes Committee may be appropriate", she wrote. [i] Ruderman corroborated that later to The New Yorker, saying she was paraphrasing Fierceton's self-identification as FGLI. [2], One day in September 2014, she told the history teacher about Lovelace's abuse. Supporters of Fierceton's mother called Mackenzie an emotionally manipulative girl who would injure herself and fabricate abuse indicators to be an appealing candidate for admission to an Ivy League college such as the University of Pennsylvania. [22], In the New Yorker article, Fierceton and others criticized Penn for its use of not only her story but another recent FGLI Rhodes awardee as poverty porn, suggesting the university had turned on her when it learned she had actually come from a privileged, affluent background and thus did not fit the narrative of having grown up in foster care recounted in its news release and the accompanying Inquirer article. [1]:95, Judge Kristine Allen Kerr ultimately held for Morrison. It's because Fierceton was accused of being . A Rhodes Scholar recipient at the University of Pennsylvania saw her scholarship candidacy revoked when the truth rose to the surface: Her life story, as told to the Rhodes committee, was falsified.. Mackenzie Fierceton wrote a compelling story, starting with her application to University of Pennsylvania, known as Penn colloquially, where she claimed that she survived being a foster child. Two weeks into the school year, she realized she had been wrong. Another girl told me that she was low-income because her dad makes $400,000 a year, and that's "New York poor." Each . [1]:64, In February 2015, before presenting the evidence against Morrison to a grand jury for an indictment, the St. Louis County district attorney's office dropped all the charges against Morrison over Brandt's objections. In the presence of her mother that night at their house, Mackenzie repeated the same story to a visiting caseworker, who appeared to accept it. 24-year-old Mackenzie Fierceton won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship last year to study at Oxford University, and now she's lost her place at the school after . "[4][2], Winkelstein followed up with a letter to Elizabeth Kiss, the trust's CEO, alerting her that the university had been investigating Fierceton's story, found it to have seriously diverged from the reality of her life, with the abuse allegations quite possibly fabricated. The teen said she was sent to. Mackenzie Fierceton was picked as one of 32 students to attend the famous Oxford University from a pool of over 2300 candidates. She was then admitted to Penn on a full scholarship where she identified as a first-generation low-income (FGLI) student despite her background of parental estrangement and lack of financial support. She added the additional detail that at the time of her first hospitalization, Fierceton had just failed her first AP Chemistry test. I identify with the FGLI umbrella term and definitely being a low-income student, but I've never really called myself a standalone first-generation. [2], Fierceton was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Penn) on a full scholarship, arranged through QuestBridge. Asked by the school's wellness director (who later told police she had seen insulting texts from Morrison on Fierceton's phone) about the reasons for the injuries, Fierceton said that she was "clumsy" but did not offer any details. Our greatest desire is that Mackenzie chooses to live a happy, healthy, honest, and productive life, using her extraordinary gifts for the highest good." "[2][j], The evening the story ran, Ruderman called Fierceton back and told her she had received some anonymously written emails casting doubt on what she had written. In an ongoing personal injury lawsuit filed on Dec. 21, 2021, Fierceton a 2021 School of Social Policy & Practice and 2020 College graduate accused Penn of discrediting her status as a first-generation, . She was an Ivy League student with an inspiring story. Now, Fierceton is Penn's 2021 Rhodes Scholar, beating out more than 2,300 applicants nationwide to become one of 32 Americans to earn a prestigious four-year scholarship to study at England's University of Oxford. "[3][l], The Chronicle story led to nationwide coverage,[17][18] most of which framed the narrative as Penn and the Rhodes Trust had in their reports, depicting Fierceton as yet another exposed fraud. Her mentor told Licht afterwards that "it felt like an attack on a student" and that she had never experienced anything like it. [2], At the beginning of April,[5] after she came to school with a black eye that showed through the concealer she put over it, she was taken to see the wellness director, who asked what had happened. Margulis later told The New Yorker that he had been telling the prosecutor repeatedly that Fierceton "had no credibility and made all of this up", the same theme as Morrison's many arguments in person and over the phone to other Whitfield parents. There, she wandered the hallways until she found the history teacher, and collapsed. Mackenzie Fierceton, 23, a 2016 graduate of the Whitfield School in Creve Coeur, is one of just 32 U.S. college students awarded a four-year scholarship for graduate studies at the University of Oxford in England. [24], In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the university said the New Yorker article "did not accurately reflect" the university's investigation of the issues raised by the Rhodes Trust. [1]:115 As to her previous involvement with the child welfare system, Penn says Fierceton told them she was not certain, but she was referring either to the guardian ad litem appointed for her during her parents' divorce or an earlier incident when she and her biological parents were still living in Connecticut.